Presents an analysis of how and why corruption governs everyday life in Africa. This book constructs an analytical frame of reference around the various forms of corruption; the corruptive strategies public officials resort to; and how these forms and strategies are deeply embedded in daily administrative practices. Everyday Corruption and the State provides an icy critique of the factual shortcomings of a literature over-heated by metaphor, and a demonstration of the systematic, pervasive and institutionalized nature of corruption in three West African states. No-one concerned with developmental issues in Africa can ignore or be indifferent to this evidence of the ways public officials routinely deal with their citizens.